Little Brother
by TwilightBoi23
Summary: Troy's parents want another kid, but his mom can't have babies anymore. When looking for a baby, they see a 14 year old who has lost faith in living. He closes up to everyone but automatically lets Troy in. AU set in HSM3 TroyxOC but NOT a pairing
1. Orphan of Crime

_**I do not own High School Musical. I do, however, own Tobias, because I made him up. I'm going to try to keep this story going, unlike Friendless, which is on an indefinite hiatus. I've written part of chapter 2, but I can't get further and what I've written is too short for my likings. Also, Elsewhere, a Tryan story from way back is also on an indefinite hiatus because I have lost my feel for it and have no clue where to go with it. I'm getting far with my Twilight story, Moonlight Horizon, so it's still my main focus, but this will be focused on, as well. This is set sort of during HSM3, but clearly it's AU. Also, it won't be so choppy like the first chapter is. I just want to get to the good stuff, haha.**_

"Troy, your father and I need to talk to you, please!" Mrs. Bolton called up the stairs.

"Alright, be right down!"

After about ten minutes had passed, East High's star athlete, Troy Bolton, descended down the stairs and walked into the living room, 'What's up, parentals?" He asked politely.

Troy's mom smiled, "Take a seat, honey."

Troy's smile faded slightly as he took a seat, "This doesn't sound too good."

"It's good, but the circumstance isn't," Mr. Bolton said.

Troy nodded, "Okay, well…what is it you need to tell me, guys?"

Mrs. Bolton nodded, "Okay, well, I don't see how we can break this to you any easier, Troy, so I guess I will just come out and say it. As you know, I can't get pregnant anymore and your father and I wanted to adopt a child."

Troy nodded, "Okay…"

She looked at her husband before continuing, "Well, we went to the adoption agency, and they took us to one of the local houses from where we would have been adopting the child. We looked around and I saw this boy. He was absolutely beautiful…but he looked sad. As if the world held nothing for him and he was just waiting for the ground to open up and swallow him whole."

Troy raised an eyebrow, "You got all that from a baby?"

Mrs. Bolton scoffed softly, "Oh! God, heavens no, Troy! I'm not _that _intuitive! He's a 14 year old boy. I asked the lady about him, and she said that they didn't know much about him personally. I spoke to your father and we agreed that he was the one. He's not a baby, but I really think that if he were to live in this type of environment that it could really change him for the better."

It was Mr. Bolton's turn to speak, "Troy, I know that this is a lot to process and take in. Normally, we would have asked how you felt before we decided to take any action, but you're graduating soon and going off to college. We didn't think that it could hurt, and I thought that maybe if he spent some time with you that it'd help as well."

Troy nodded, "I'm okay with it, but did you ever stop to think that maybe he doesn't want this?"

Mrs. Bolton gave a look of disappointment, "Well, we did ask him, Troy. And his reply was 'why not?'. I really want to help him, or at least try to. It's better than staying at that place."

Troy thought about it for a few moments. They had already adopted him, probably, so there was really no point in trying to form some form of debate. He always wanted a younger sibling, but he wasn't sure that a random teenager would really be a good idea. He let out a soft sigh and looked at them, "When does he get here?"

Mrs. Bolton let out a sigh of relief as she took her husband, Jack's, hand and looked at Troy, "Tomorrow. I'm going to pick him up during halftime at your game and then you guys will have to fill me in on what I missed."

Troy nodded. His mom never really cared for basketball, but she always supported Troy and Jack's passion for it. Now it was their turn to support her passion, "No problemo."

Jack Bolton nodded and smiled, proudly, "Alright, son. Now get up to bed and get a good night's sleep. Need you well rested if we're going to beat the North High Cougars!"

Troy nodded, "On it, Coach," he smiled and ran upstairs. Tomorrow was definitely going to prove to be a big day.

----------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~------------~~~~~~~-------------

"Wait, they're adopting a kid?" Chad asked Troy as the group all took their seats at the lunch table. Chad sat next to Taylor as Gabriella took her seat next to her and Troy next to her. Kelsi and Ryan sat opposite them.

Troy nodded, "They already adopted him, Chad. My mom's just picking him up tonight."

Chad shuddered, "Sounds like a real-life Stork."

Taylor smacked Chad in the back of the head, "Storks are real, smart one."

"I know that! I meant the story ones-that deliver babies."

"Except he isn't a baby," Gabriella interjected with a smile.

Ryan took a bite of his apple parfait, "So, Troy, how do you feel about it?"

Troy shrugged, "Doesn't matter how I feel about it. They already adopted him and I'm leaving for college soon anyway."

Gabriella furrowed her eyebrows, "Your feelings about it still matter though, Troy."

He nodded, "I know. And I'm fine with it, really. I just hope that it won't be utter chaos…even though it's inevitable," He reached across the table and took a small bite from Ryan's apple parfait.

"Hey!"

Troy just smiled innocently, "If it helps, it's delicious."

Ryan nodded, "I know it's delicious, Troy, that's why I got it."

The group laughed as the bell rang and they all dispersed to get to their next class.

------------~~~~~~~~~~~~-------------~~~~~~~~-----------

Chad handed Troy a folded up piece of paper. The brunette unfolded it and read it,

_Hoops,_

_You ready for the big game tonight? We're going to beat the Cougars to the ground and wipe the floor with them, man!_

Troy snickered and looked at Chad, giving him a nod. He then turned back to his work as he waited for the bell to ring. He wasn't nervous for the game, because the Cougars sucked…but he was nervous because he wasn't sure if he really wanted his parents to go through with this. It was too late, though, but he still couldn't help it.

----------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-----------------------

Troy was sitting in the locker room with the rest of the Wildcats. They were 24-3, which proved that Troy was right-the Cougars really did suck. It was halftime, and they were resting up a bit, but he couldn't help but fidget as he thought of his new brother and what he'd be like.

"Troy!"

Troy instantly shot up and looked around, "Right, Coach!"

The rest of the team just stared at him. He looked around and made eye contact with Chad, "What?"

Chad pointed his thumb towards the office, "Coach isn't in here…"

Troy blinked a few timed, "Oh…right. Well, we're kicking their asses right now and I say we don't show them any mercy. Someone needs to show them that if they can't play the game, then they shouldn't be playing against us. It's now or never, so get your head in the game."

"If you say we're all in this together, or to push it to the limit, I swear I will poison your food, Bolton." Zeke said, crossing his arms with a smirk.

Troy nodded and smiled, "We're going to win boys…you can bet on it," he gave a wink to Zeke, who rolled his eyes.

"Chad…do your thing."

Troy's best friend nodded, "Hey, what team?!"

"Wildcats!"

"What team?!"

"Wildcats!"

"What team?!"

"Wildcats!"

"Wildcats!"

"Get'cha head in the game!"

----------~~~~~~~~~~~---------------~~~~~~~~~~~--------------

Troy drove his truck home with his dad in the passenger seat, "I'm truly not surprised that we won."

Jack Bolton looked at his son, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting cocky."

Troy shook his head, "I'm not getting cocky, I just know that they suck. It's their reputation, Dad."

Mr. Bolton nodded, "Troy, when we get home…can you please make sure not to make him feel uncomfortable?"

Troy nodded, "Dad, I never do that. Trust me, I'll watch out with what I say."

Jack nodded, "You sure you're okay with this, though?"

Troy laughed, "Dad, considering the fact that the kid's already packed up and moved into the house, I'd say it's too late to start worrying about my opinion. But yes, I am okay with it."

Jack nodded and looked out the window as Troy drove. Not but 10 feet from the house, the truck broke down and Troy groaned.

Jack let out a sigh, "So close…come on, I'll help push."

Troy shook his head, "Nah, Dad, it's cool. I can push it up to the garage by myself. You go meet your new son."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Troy."

Troy shook his head, "I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Seriously, go meet him, or get better acquainted or whatever it is people do. I'll be inside in a few minutes, k?"

Jack nodded, "You sure?"

Troy smiled, "Sure, I'm sure. Otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it. Okay, I still would have, but I really am sure this time, Dad."

His father smiled and patted his shoulder before getting out of the truck and walking into the house.

"Lucille?!" Jack yelled out for his wife.

"In the living room, dear!"

Jack smiled and walked into the living room, smiling at his wife and the teenager sitting down next to her.

"Did you guys win?"

Jack nodded, "54-5."

Lucille scoffed, "Oh, boy! Well, Tobias, you remember Jack, right?"

The teenager nodded and shook Jack's hand, "Thank you for letting me into your home, Mr. Bolton."

Jack smiled, "It's Jack, or Dad. Whichever you're more comfortable with. But please, not Mr. Bolton."

Tobias nodded, "Sorry, Jack."

Lucille lightly rubbed Tobias' back, "So, where's Troy?"

Jack took a seat across from them in a chair, "His truck broke down again ten feet away. He'll be in in a minute."

"You didn't help him?" She asked.

Jack shook his head, "I offered, but he said he could do it. He said to just come in and get acquainted with Tobias."

Tobias bit his bottom lip as he looked down at his knees. He had heard about Troy from Lucille. He was the star of the basketball team, a jock. He knew enough to know that jocks were total jerks and he figured that what Jack said was code for 'he doesn't give a damn about meeting him.'

"Mom? Dad?"

"In here, Troy!" Jack called back.

Troy walked into the living room and immediately his eyes fell on the boy sitting next to his mother. He was wearing black jeans, black Vans, a black striped hoodie, and a gray t-shirt with black stripes underneath. His hair was black, but Troy could tell that it was his natural hair color.

"Hi, honey," his mother smiled, "enjoy your victory?"

Troy nodded, "Sort of."

Lucille smiled, "Troy, this is Tobias. Tobias, this is Troy."

Troy gave a slight wave, "Hey, Tobias."

Tobias gave a small nod, still keeping his eyes on his knees. Beside the couch sat a few suitcases. Troy bit his bottom lip, looking at his parents, before speaking again, "You want some help unpacking?"

Tobias just shrugged. Lucille smiled. Jack nodded, "Why don't you two do that while Mom and I cook up something to eat?"

Troy nodded, "Fine with me."

Tobias stood up and grabbed a couple of his suitcases; Troy grabbed the other two behind him. He carried them upstairs and moved in front of Tobias, leading him down the hall to the guest room. He opened the door and set the suitcases down beside the bed, Tobias following suit.

"Tada," Troy smiled, "This is your room now, obviously. The door over there on the right leads to the bathroom."

He looked over at Tobias and noticed that he was still staring at the floor, "Not to be rude, Toby, but giving you a tour isn't really going to help if you keep staring at the floor."

Tobias cringed a little before looking up at Troy. Troy furrowed his eyebrows, "Sorry, do you not like to be called Toby?"

Tobias shook his head and spoke to Troy for the first time, "No, but I don't mind if you call me that. As long as it's just you."

Troy tilted his head to the side and shook it off as he grabbed a suitcase and set it on the bed. He unzipped it and flipped it open, "Where do you want these to go?"

Tobias shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. Troy bit his bottom lip and walked over to him, "Are you always this quiet?"

He shook his head, "No."

Troy raised an eyebrow, "Hm. Do you feel intimidated by me or something?"

Tobias shot him a look, "No!"

Troy smirked, "Yeah, that wasn't obvious at all. Toby, it's all good. I know that you've probably been through a lot but it's okay here."

Tobias rolled his eyes and sat down on his bed. Troy took a seat next to him, "Why don't you tell me everything that's bugging you?"

"Because it's none of your business."

Troy smiled, "Well, technically, you're my little brother now, so it is sort of my business. If you really don't want to talk, then okay, it's cool. If you feel like talking, you know where to find me. But right now we have some unpacking to do, ok?"

Tobias shook his head, "I can do it myself."

Troy pursed his lips, "I know, but I get the feeling that you think I'm some asshole or something and I want to prove you wrong because you are wrong."

Tobias looked down and spoke softly, "It's not that, it's just I'm some random kid who's jumped into your life. You don't hate me for it?"

Troy shook his head, "No, of course not."

Tobias didn't know why he was telling Troy this, but he couldn't help it. He felt that he could trust Troy with this information, more than Lucille and Jack themselves, and he hadn't even known Troy for five minutes.

_**Okay, so that's chapter one. In most of my stories, the characters are gay, but if I make anyone gay in this story, it'll be Ryan. This story is about Troy and Tobias, so it's labeled as TroyxOC, but it is NOT a pairing like Tryan or Troyella. That would be weird and strange and anything else synonymous with weird.**_


	2. It's Your Fault

_**I do not own High School Musical. I do, however, own Tobias, because I made him up. I'm hoping that soon more people will be reading it. I don't know how long it'll be.**_

That same night, Tobias had been left to rearrange his belongings after Troy helped him unpack. Troy knew the younger boy probably wanted to be alone so that he could adjust without someone trying to invade his personal space every five seconds.

Tobias looked at the picture frame in his hand, examining how beautiful his mother looked. He was four years old and they were at the park. He smiled to himself before he set the picture down on the nightstand beside his bed. He pursed his lips.

His bed. _His _bed. At the home where he had been staying before the Boltons had adopted him, he had never had a bed of his own. You always had to claim a bed and where you slept would always change. There were more kids than beds, so sometimes he'd have to share a bed with one of the younger boys. His usual 'buddy' was a seven year old named Kellan. He idolized Tobias and was afraid of the dark, so Tobias sort of became his older brother figure. He felt bad for leaving Kellan behind, but he knew Kellan would be fine.

Tobias laid down on his bed and before he knew it, he was 12 again.

_Tobias was sitting in his English class, bored out of his mind. As the teacher droned on and on about who knows what, he tapped his pencil against the desk to a random rhythm. After a while, he had stuck to a rhythm and was bobbing his head to it._

_Like the rest of the class, his attention was turned to the door, which had just been opened. He sat up straighter as he took note of the woman who was speaking to his teacher. She was short, with red hair that was put up in a bun. She wore a navy blue skirt and jacket, with a baby blue shirt underneath._

_He felt a lump form in his throat when his teacher, Mr. Marx, looked over at him and waved him over with his finger. Tobias swallowed the saliva that had been building up in his mouth as he gathered up his books and approached the two adults._

"_Tobias, this is Mrs. Swanson. She is from Social Services."_

_I looked at the woman and gave a polite nod, "Hello."_

_Mrs. Swanson gave me a polite, but sad, smile, "Hello, Tobias. May I speak with you out in the hallway?"_

_I bit my bottom lip and walked out of the classroom. When I turned to face her again, she wasn't Mrs. Swanson._

_She was my mother. She was wearing bloody underwear, a bra with a ripped right strap, and her hair was a mess. Her eyes were bloodshot as she glared at me, a bullet hole sitting in the middle of her forehead._

"_How could you replace me, you son of a-"_

"Tobias!"

Tobias' eyes opened widely as he shot up in his bed, panting. He wiped his damp hair from his face as he felt the cold sweat that had accumulated on his body from the nightmare. He felt warmth on his shoulder and turned to see Troy sitting beside him, a worried look on his face,

"Are you alright, Toby?"

Tobias took in a shaky breath as he processed what had just happened. After a few moments, he nodded and wiped the back of his neck, "Yeah, I-I'm fine."

Troy's eyebrows furrowed as he mentally examined Tobias. He gently rubbed his back as he spoke softly, so he wouldn't wake up his parents, "What'd you see, Toby?"

Tobias sniffled as he attempted to block the tears that were building in his eyes, but it was inevitable. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to keep the rest of his tears in, but they still escaped. He pulled his legs into his body and looped his arms around them, sobbing quietly, "I saw…the day that I heard the news about my mom."

Troy kept silent, but nodded to signal him to continue,

"I was twelve…and the social security worker came to my class to tell me. I went into the hallway, but instead of it continuing like it actually happened, she turned into my mom. She looked…pained…and she had a bullet hole in her head. She was raped, troy, and then the bastard shot him in the head. And she-she said 'how could you replace me, you son of a bitch'."

Troy pulled him into a hug as Tobias broke down into tears. When he met no resistance, he rested his chin on the boy's head and rubbed his back in circles, "You know she doesn't really feel that way, right?"

Tobias shook his head, "You didn't know her."

"No, you're right. I didn't. But if she's worth so much to you that you'd keep her with you at all times, then there is no way that she could feel that way."

Tobias sniffled and pulled his arms from his legs and wrapped them around Troy's torso, pulling himself in closer. Troy patted his back, "Why don't you try to get some more sleep, k?"

Tobias shook his head as he sat up and wiped his eyes with his fingers, "No. I can't go back to sleep. If I do, I'll just keep seeing her again."

Troy pursed his lips and thought it through for a few minutes. He then smiled and wrapped his arm around Tobias' shoulder, "Mind if I keep you company?"

Tobias shook his head, "You should get some sleep."

Troy shrugged, "Tomorrow's Saturday. I can take a power nap if I have to."

"What about hanging with your friends?"

Troy chuckled softly, "You do like to make up ways to try to change people's minds, huh? Actually, I told my friends that I wanted to spend tomorrow," He looked at the clock, "technically today, to get to know you. So I am all yours."

Tobias shook his head, "No, you don't have to do that for me."

Troy shook his head, "I'm doing it for me. To get to know _you_, not for you to get to know _me_. You're my new brother, so if we're going to be sharing a house then we need to know a little bit about each other, right?"

Tobias nodded, "I guess you have a point."

Troy laughed, "Well, duh, otherwise I wouldn't have said it, goober."

Tobias smirked and moved so that Troy could sit more comfortably on his bed. The older boy smiled as he held up a remote control, "You want to watch some tv?"

Tobias shrugged, "Is there anything good on at three in the morning?"

Troy shrugged, "Well, there's porn but I doubt either of us would be interested in that," he smiled to show Tobias that he meant that as a joke, "If there isn't anything good on we can watch a dvd or something."

Tobias nodded as he scrunched up, trying to take up as little room as possible. Troy noticed this and shook his head. He wasn't going to force Tobias to do anything that he really didn't want to do. They settled on Cartoon Network and watched Family Guy in comfortable silence.

When Tobias opened his eyes, he realized that he had been taking up most of the bed. He carefully moved and looked over the side, seeing a brown-headed figure sleeping in a sleeping bag, snoring softly. He smirked and shook his head as he sat up, looking out the window. It was sunny, and he could hear a few birds chirping, dogs barking, and people chatting as they went for their morning jogs.

He scratched his head and looked at his wrist. He frowned and got out of his bed. He walked over to his closet and grabbed a black long sleeve shirt with gray stripes and pulled it on over his shirt. He fixed his hair and then turned, seeing Troy sitting up, staring at him over the bed.

Tobias smiled politely, "Morning."

Troy nodded, "Isn't it a bit warm for long sleeves?"

Tobias shrugged, "I get cold easily."

Troy just nodded again and stood up, rubbing the small of his back. Tobias tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms, "You didn't have to sleep on the floor. I mean, I'm not that fat so the bed's plenty big for the two of us."

Troy shook his head, "No, I know. I saw how scrunched up you got last night when we watched tv so I decided to give you some space. And you're not fat at all, you're like…skin and bones."

Tobias laughed, "I have some muscle!" he said defensively.

Troy cocked an eyebrow, "Sure, you do."

Tobias shook his head, chuckling, "Jackass."

Troy shrugged and reciprocated, "Pansy."

The younger boy kept shaking his head and walked out of his bedroom, Troy following behind him. They were both met with the strong scent of eggs, bacon, and cheese. Troy smiled, "Omelets…"

Tobias scrunched his eyebrows and shrugged as he followed Troy into the kitchen. He pulled up a seat at the table, sitting next to Troy. Jack, who was sitting across from the two, noticed how quickly the two of them had started to get along and smiled to himself.

Mrs. Bolton walked over to the table and smiled as she set Tobias' and Troy's plates down in front of them. She handed them each a fork and a knife and smiled, "Dig in, boys."

Troy immediately began to scarf down the omelet, while Tobias was twirling the knife in his fingers. He examined the shininess of it, the cool feel of the metal as it touched his skin. He felt his wrist began to tingle and set the knife down on the table. He could feel Troy's eyes boring into him, but he ignored them and began to eat his omelet.

Jack noticed the sudden tension and decided to break the ice, "So, Tobias, you have anything in mind that you want to do today?"

Tobias swallowed a piece of omelet and shrugged, "I don't know. What is there to do around here?"

It was Troy's turn to talk, "Well, there's basketball, the mall, the park, the arcade, laser tag…"

Tobias nodded, "Um…could we go to the mall?"

Jack looked at Troy, who nodded, "Sure. You could use some clothes that are less…morbid."

Tobias shook his head, "Nevermind," he mumbled.

"Toby, I was just teasing you," Troy said.

"I said nevermind," he shot up from the table and stormed upstairs. Jack and Lucille let out a sigh, while Troy noticed that the knife was missing.

He immediately ran upstairs and walked into Tobias' room. He stopped and moved his head back as the knife flew right past him and stuck into the wall. He looked at the knife, then Tobias, then the knife again…then back to Tobias, "What the hell…where did you learn that?"

Tobias shrugged as if it was nothing and sat down on the edge of the bed, "One of the older kids at the home taught me. He was a little not right up in the head if you catch my drift. Major problems."

Troy cocked an eyebrow, "So, you always throw knives at people who piss you off?"

Tobias chuckled softly, "No. We had a dart board and that's how Jensen taught me. I just figured the same thing could work for a knife. Since my room is lacking a dart board…I thought the wall could do and I could just hang a picture over it or something."

Troy nodded, "I'll buy you a poster. Look, man, I'm sorry about-"

"Don't worry about it," Tobias said, "It's all over and passed. I'm oversensitive anyway."

Troy nodded, "Well, still. Toby…do you hurt yourself?"

Tobias felt a lump form in his throat. He didn't do a good job at hiding it at all. He was too obvious. How could he be so stupid? Troy was so observant, it was almost freaky. He let out a sigh, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

Tobias shook his head, keeping the confused look on his face, "No, I'm sorry. I'm afraid that I don't."

Troy rolled his eyes and grabbed Tobias' arm and pushed the sleeve up. He felt his stomach drop as he saw the scars that laced the boy's wrist. He also saw a couple of cuts that looked more recent. He bit his bottom lip and looked into Tobias' eyes, who looked afraid. Troy released his arm and shook his head.

Tobias crossed his arms and looked around before he grabbed one of his suitcases and started to pile his things in them. Troy watched and spoke after a few seconds, "What're you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Tobias asked, not looking at him as he continued to pack, "I'm packing my bags. You and your parents don't want damaged goods."

Troy walked over to him and pulled him back from the suitcase and held him firmly by the shoulders, "Toby…you're not going anywhere. We can help you get over this."

"No, Troy, you can't."

"And why not?"

"Because you don't see your raped mother with a bullet hole in the middle of her forehead every time you close your eyes!"

_**Things will start to heat up and get more interesting soon. Please review and let me know how you feel about it.**_


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